


Uprooted MHS: Gym Class (Awkward First Love)

by SunflowerRose22



Series: Uprooted MHS [1]
Category: Uprooted - Naomi Novik
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Monster High School, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Pining, Short Sarkan, Short clip of a larger story that may never see the light of day, Uprooted MHS
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-11-08 18:13:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17986169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunflowerRose22/pseuds/SunflowerRose22
Summary: Agnieszka might not know much about the world outside of her home town. But she certainly knows a crush when she feels one. Unfortunately, the object of her heart is a boy who her best friend Kasia affectionately calls an "insufferable asshole".In this clip, Aggie finds herself very fortunate that the Junior boys have gym at the same time as the freshmen girls.





	Uprooted MHS: Gym Class (Awkward First Love)

**Author's Note:**

> Quick Guide: This is a blip of a greater monster high school AU, where everyone is a variant of a mythical creature. Cause, you know, its hard enough being a human in high school. So here's what I've come up with for each character and their year:
> 
> Sarkan - Dragon / Junior  
> Aggie - Kelpie / Freshman  
> Kasia - Chimera / Freshman  
> Solya - Harpy / Junior  
> Alosha - Human / Senior  
> Marek - (Reverse) Minotaur / Junior  
> Ludmilla - Pegasus / Graduated-- Sophomore in College

   

   Gym has always been Agnieszka’s favorite time of the week, mostly because the junior boys happened to have their session at the same time as the freshmen girls. This late fall day was no exception. Agnieszka was sitting on the grass, dew soaking through her gym shorts, and leaning against the wired fence that separated the courtyard from the track. She was on the bench for the game of capture the flag, taking a water break. In reality she was watching the junior boys run the track as part of the annual athletic assessment. Among them she had her eye on Sarkan, the dragon child, who stood off to the sidelines downing a bottle of water. 

   Despite the chill to the air, he only wore a standard white gym t-shirt and black shorts modified to accompany his long, thick tail. Compared to other classmates who were only similar to him in appearance—lizard folk and certain demon kin with their dusty brown and moldy green scales—Sarkan typically made an effort to hold his tail high and keep it from trailing in the mud. His scales were scarlet, sprinkled like freckles on his cheeks and on the back of his forearms. Sarkan’s tail was curled slightly now, skimming the top of the grass as he caught his breath. When he lifted the front of his shirt to wipe the sweat from his brow, Agnieszka caught a glimpse of the trim of hair that trailed down from his belly button and disappeared under the band of his shorts. She squeezed her legs closer to her chest, internally humming in delight. 

   “So when are you going to ask him out?” called out a voice. Agnieszka jumped to attention then relaxed as Kasia approached, arms crossed and her snake tail shivering under her t-shirt. Agnieszka unzipped and opened her track windbreaker in invitation. Kasia eagerly accepted, her short goat horns and sharp elbows jabbing into Agnieszka. When her chimera friend was finally content with Agnieszka’s arms and jacket wrapped around her, she repeated her question. Agnieszka laughed lightly then groaned into Kasia’s ponytail.  

   “I’m really pathetic, aren't I?” she mumbled. 

   “A bit, yeah,” Kasia teased before maneuvering in Agnieszka’s lap and poking her in the stomach until her friend could see the track. Kasia made a noise of disgust and slumped back down. Agnieszka craned her neck to see Sarkan sputtering, water dripping down the front of his shirt as Solya the harpy scampered away, loudly wheezing with laughter. She could see Sarkan growling after him, tail high and waving.  

   “Honestly, I don’t know what you see in boys,” Kasia declared. 

   Agnieszka hummed in a sort of agreement, barely listening as she noticed how Sarkan’s wet shirt clung to his form. She thought about him more than she should, if she was being honest with herself and everything her mother tried to teach her about proper conduct. But at this point Agnieszka was too far into her first crush to care. It was more fun to think about the brown fur that trailed along Sarkan’s spine from where it disappeared under his collar and reappeared along his tail. She often fantasized how soft and rich it must be, given how much grooming that boy put into his appearance. She too often found herself wondering what it would be like to bury her fingers into his mane, to grip it and hear him gasp in awe and equal want—

   Agnieszka quickly righted herself, her face heating. Kasia just laughed at her misery and touched her cheek in solidarity. Her fingers were freezing. 

   “Just talk to him,” Kasia said. Agnieszka hadn’t registered tears were brimming in her eyes till Kasia caught them with her knuckle, staining her skin. Agnieszka tilted her head back to swallow the oily tears down, feeling a flash of shame and irritation with herself. If there was one thing she hated about her kelpie blood, besides the deathly pale skin and freakish red eyes, it was the dark swampy tears that rolled down her cheeks whenever she felt emotional: excited, depressed, irritated, embarrassed,  _ everything _ . And it happened all the time. At this point she could do nothing about the streaks on her face.  

   “It’s not that easy,” Agnieszka retorted stubbornly. 

   “And why is that?”

   “Cause he’s a junior? Duh. Plus he’s smart, put together—” and she was a mess, oily, not to mention a freshmen and in no way at his level—

   “He’s prudish, snobby, aloof—” Kasia mimicked, counting off on her fingers. 

   “He’s just fussy,” Agnieszka protested.

   “Is that what you call it?” Kasia asked, giggling before turning rather serious. “Regardless of how I feel, you’ve still got to talk to him. You can’t just sit on the sidelines forever. Otherwise,” her friend said, looking on at the girls running and tackling each other wistfully, “you’re just going to end up hurt.” 

   The sun was harsh for a spring day, beating down onto the concrete and making today’s gym session particularly torturous. Agnieszka found herself rather distracted, constantly tripping on the basketball and missing every shot she took. It was bad enough that Kasia kept shooting glances at her, eyebrows raised. Eventually Agnieszka asked to sit by the fence for a bit. Kasia moved to join but their teacher waved her back into the game. Kasia shot Agnieszka a look, eyebrows raised until Agnieszka gave her a half-felt smile. It didn’t dismiss Kasia’s concern. 

   At the fence, Agnieszka looked down the court to the yard where the junior boys were running a sort of obstacle course. Unconsciously she started looking for Sarkan. 

   It had been a steady three months since Sarkan agreed to go out with Agnieszka. From what she could tell, not much had changed since last fall when she first asked if she could sit with him under the oak tree. They were still in this awkward “getting to know you” stage, to the point that she sometimes doubted whether he wanted to be with her or if a sort of guilt pushed him to continue their relationship. Certainly there were some days he was affectionate in that quiet way of his, when he interlaced their fingers as they strolled through local parks or when he lifted the arm between their chairs at the movie theatre without pause. But he had his fair share of aloofness that was a headache trying to parse meaning from. 

   For the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why he never wanted to kiss. Every time she hinted or tried to initiate, he’d pull away or abruptly change the subject. It nagged at her more than she liked, making her wonder if there was something wrong with her. Like he didn’t want to be there. 

   Agnieszka felt the overwhelming need to see Sarkan. She scanned the courtyard, having a hard time locating Sarkan among the juniors. He was nowhere near Solya, his usual companion, and he certainly wasn’t on the course. Then she saw a flash of red, the gentle sway of his tail as Sarkan walked towards the campus buildings. There were sinks back there, maybe he was going to cool off? That sounded like him, eager to clean up the grime as soon as he could. 

   It occurred to her that she could follow him and talk for a bit. Agnieszka glanced towards her teacher, to the game that was starting to heat up. She had never snuck out of class before. She had a pretty good idea what would happen if she did; detention, lecture, grounding, banned from dating until she was fifty in the least. She could probably deal with most of that but… for all she knew, her mom might take her car away. She’d threaten to before, when Agnieszka failed to follow curfew. And without a car, there’d be no more late night movies or looking at stars. Agnieszka played with the ends of her hair, looking between the basketball court and the buildings.

   Waiting until the game reached the farthest end of the court, Agnieszka slinked down the fence, past the courtyard and to the back of the main campus building.  It was nice under the shade, with the building taking most of the blunt of the rising sun. Sarkan was patting a towel against his face when she approached, half jogging at this point. Her nerves were making her giddy as she called out his name. He jumped at the sound of her voice, eyes widening before settling on a frown.  

   “What are you doing here?” he hissed, glancing at the courtyard beyond the wall.

   “I wanted to see you,” she said, her voice rather uneven.

   “You see me all the time.” The statement caught her off guard, the roughness of it. 

   “Does it bother you?” she asked, deflating slightly. Sarkan balked a bit, the frown lessening to hesitancy. Instead of answering, he fell silent. It was too much quietness to handle. Agnieszka crossed her arms over her chest, the regret starting to build. She really shouldn’t have come. She stared down at the concrete. 

   “Hey-” Sarkan said hastily, voice wavering. She was crying again, totally against her will. How ridiculous. Overcome with anger, Agnieszka stepped back and smeared the tears with her wrist. 

   “There’s something I want to tell you,” she said abruptly. 

   “Can’t it wait?” he asked, wringing the towel. Was it just her or was his tail flattening? She felt the need to calm his fidgeting hands. 

   A bout of laughter boomed from the courtyard. Agnieszka snapped her hand back. Sarkan jumped as well.

   “You’re going to get in trouble,” he said harshly, any vulnerability of the moment gone. He moved to push her. Agnieszka planted her feet firmly. 

   “No. Not until I’ve told you.”

   “Can’t you just, tell me now?” Before he could protest further, the boyish giggles were becoming louder. Agnieszka watched him chew his bottom lip, the motion of it a sort of infuriating teasing. 

   Finally Sarkan grabbed her hand and pulled her in the opposite direction, away from the courtyard. Startled, Agnieszka followed without resistance. The warmth of his palm fluttered her heart as he led her further down the brick wall, past the sinks, to a smaller nook with pipes and vents sticking out. There he turned to her, back to the wall and not quite looking at her as he said, “Well?” 

   Agnieszka took the moment to drink him in, the drenched collar of his shirt, the strands of hair sticking to his forehead from both water and sweat, the soaked towel wrung in his hands, the feathering of his jaw, and the weariness etched into his face. Every detail made her insides twist about. She took a deep breath before stepping closer, lowering her voice. “Right now, I really want to kiss you.”

   Clearly this was not the declaration he was expecting as he said, “Gods, preserve me. Is that what this is about?” Agnieszka started pouting and stuttering in embarrassment until she realized he was laughing. It was then she noticed the lack of tension in his shoulders, the easy sway of his tail as he ran a hand through his hair. “What am I to do with you?” he asked, more to himself than her. 

   Agnieszka bent so her face was on par to his, the rim of her shorts bunched in her hands. “So can I?” she asked. 

   Sarkan’s ramblings fell to a mumble, flushing brighter than his scales. Silently he nodded, his eyes not moving once from her face. 

   Agnieszka closed the distance between them, keeping her hands on her thighs. She pressed her lips to his, bumping noses in the process. She was pretty certain she wasn’t breathing but she couldn’t tell over the roaring in her ears. After a moment or so, she pulled away, gauging his reaction. Sarkan was quiet, contemplating no doubt. Shame flushed through her and she wished she had actually done research or bucked up the courage to ask Kasia for a how-to when Sarkan wrapped his arms around her neck, pulling her back. 

   For the moment, all she could think about was his lips. He was slow, gentle as he moved against her, guiding her to tilt her head with the hand he buried in her hair. Her heart was beating so loudly and her hands were moving on their own accord. They brushed against his back, under his t-shirt and ran up his mane. He shivered against her, gasping into her mouth. She didn’t remember letting his tongue in. Her brain was in a tizzy.

   Sarkan flinched when her hand dipped against the round of his stomach, to the trim of hair there. He broke the kiss to catch her from proceeding further.

   “Sorry,” she squeaked, withdrawing. 

   “No, no, I just… didn’t expect that.” His face was bright, voice hoarse. “Just maybe,” he said, taking her hand and moving it to his hip, “stay above here, for now.” She locked both hands to the small of his back, her knuckles brushing against the brick wall.

   “Better?” she asked. He nodded once before twining his fingers through her nest of hair, examining her lips. She could feel the muscles in his back flex, his tail swaying. Finally he smiled and pecked her cheek. He seemed rather content. 

   “We should do this more often,” Agnieszka said. Sarkan snorted and hid his face in her shoulder. The tip of his tail began rattling fiercely. She’d only seen him do it once before, when he found a limited edition copy of a book at the antique store across from the coffee shop. He seemed rather embarrassed by it as he started pushing her away, which gave Agnieszka a stronger resolve to hold him tight, giggling as she kissed his neck. 

**Author's Note:**

> This has been a nice break between my college work and writing. I've given this Monster High School AU a lot of thought but I've been unwilling to write a linear full story for it. So I might just write blips like this one occasionally and give them the same label: Uprooted MHS. Maybe the next one will be about Sarkan and Ludmilla and their relationship that made Sarkan the aloof dork we all know and love.  
> I hope you enjoyed~


End file.
